Danner signs for TNU

Metamora Township High School senior Isabelle Danner signed a letter of intent to play soccer for Trinity National University in Deerfield Friday.

Danner was out of soccer due to her hips this season for MTHS but will be able to play for TNU in the 2014 season.

Drew VeskaufTimesNewspapers

Metamora Township High School senior Isabelle Danner signed a letter of intent to play soccer for Trinity National University in Deerfield Friday.

Danner was out of soccer due to her hips this season for MTHS but will be able to play for TNU in the 2014 season.

Danner said TNU approached her first.

“I went to a showcase in February last year and it was a short-sided game and I talked to (Patrick Gilliam) afterwards. I showed interest and he showed interest,” Danner said.

“He actually came down for a home visit about a month later and then two days after that I got a scholarship offer. It went by really quick.”

Gilliam will be in his 17th season as the girls head coach at TNU.

Under Gilliam’s instruction, the girls soccer program has a 249-103-13 record and has earned two National Christian College Athletic Association championships.

Danner said her time spent at Metamora has prepared her for the next level at TNU.

“(The coaches) have pushed me really hard to just be the best I can be and not settle for anything less than that,” Danner said. “Not to become a better soccer player, but to become a better person. They teach you that its not always about soccer but how we can learn things from playing this game.”

The teachers have also helped Danner prepare for college course work.

“The school here has been great, academically. It’s a great school,” Danner said.

The Metamora community has been a great help for Danner to develop but she said she is looking forward to attending college in the northern Chicago suburb.

“It’s just far enough away to where I’m away a distance but I’m close enough to where I can come back. I will miss being at home but I like being far enough away to do my own thing,” Danner said.

Danner said she will be studying psychology at TNU and will attend a masters program to get a job in social work.